A 2027 photographic desk diary with a difference Unlike a conventional January-to-December diary, A Year of Inspiration runs for 58 weeks, from Christmas 2026 through to the end of January 2028. It gives you a little extra breathing space at both ends of the year. Each week has a photograph on the left-hand page, together with a short piece explaining what the image taught me or what made it work. Opposite is a practical week-to-view diary page, with space for appointmen

About a year ago, I had the idea of creating a diary. I got in touch with a few people who enjoy my style of photography. The response was an overwhelming yes, accompanied by more than one, “I’ll buy one for each member of the family as a stocking present.” So, here we are. The design is almost complete, and I am now sorting out the printing.

The shadow cast by the gate post was much more dramatic than it would have been on green grass. And while the gate and fence form a barrier across the image, the length and angle of the shadow do the opposite: they lead the eye towards the main subject, the cathedral spire. It is a useful reminder that the conditions around a subject can sometimes be as important as the subject itself.

Love is light, love is air to breathe, love is all things good. Pure love is one of the great God-given forces for good, and in a world that can feel increasingly harsh, we need more of it. Perhaps the challenge is to notice it, recognise it, and pass it on when we can.

I started by photographing the landscape, but gradually the sky took over. It is sometimes worth asking yourself what the photograph is really about. Is it the sky or the land? The sky or the sea? Once you have decided, you can then decide how much of the frame each should occupy.

There are moments on a walk when the route ahead seems to disappear. From where we stand, the path is unclear. It bends behind rocks, appears to be swallowed by the landscape. We can see enough to know that there is a way forward, but not enough to understand the whole route. To me that expresses much about life.

The light and the angles and the clarity to the hills of Martin Down in Wiltshire, UK, called for some time spent looking and sharing some thoughts about the composition tips and the effects of foreground on the background.

So this week’s Friday Image with Words is a simple encouragement: do not underestimate the power of letting someone know you care. Because when someone is struggling, knowing you care can change everything. It might even save their life. And maybe one day someone may do the same for you. We all have bad-times.

Most beginners think they need to find a better subject. Very often, they simply need to stay longer with the subject they already have. These photographs of one rock on the shoreline show how light, angle, distance and timing can turn one ordinary subject into many different photographs.

This thought echoes Romans 12:2, which says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It is not a call to withdraw from the world, but to move through it with a different spirit: steadier, kinder, clearer and less easily shaped by the noise around us.

Image One, is the original image I took before I noticed the flower poking out from the cliff. In itself made quite dramatic by the sharp vertical shadow pointing up towards the setting sun, with quite good visual balance overall - the lighter but larger rocks to the left, countering the smaller but darker ones on the right.

A fixed wire on a difficult mountain path is a quiet reminder that others have gone before, recognised the challenge, and left something to help. You may be walking the path yourself, but that does not mean you are alone.

What do I mean by wrong direction? Well in your imagination place them in the compositionally comfortable vertical third. If they're on the right third, their movement takes the eye into the picture, which is comfortable, but they will be adding a visual weight on the same side as the visually dense headland, sunlight on water, and the right hand heavy flowering taller gorse. If you place them on the left hand vertical third, their presence adds better balance, but th

When life feels hopeless, it is easy to believe that nothing will change. But every day does come to an end, and tomorrow can be a new beginning, especially when you find the strength to turn away from the things that trouble you and towards hope, peace, and a better direction.

I have always struggled photographing bluebells, as I know have many other professional photographers, and my current post mountaineering accident following last years new hip status has meant that for two years running this man has not been able to get down low to do them something of the justice they deserve.

a quiet moment to end the week My Friday Image with the words "Hope Means Hoping Even When Things Seem Hopeless' to Encourage Your Weekend Waiting for the mist over lift. I came across these words "Hope Means Hoping Even When Things Seem Hopeless" earlier this week, and thought they matched well with the image near Pugs Hole in Wiltshire, UK. There are times when life feels like this landscape. The way ahead is there, but you cannot properly see it. The wider shape of thing

If it's been a good week, great, pleased for you. Have you taken any of your time to drop some encouragement on the lap of those around you who may not be in such a good place? It doesn't take very long, or too much, to change someone's day, and each day changed can lead to a life changed.

Let your eyes search the still dark areas to the left middle, the writhing water of the foreground slipping into the fast moving runnel that carries your eye back towards the sun. Within a short while the mist will be gone, and you will see other things - but for now, love the moment

Notice details of trees, moss on logs, or rocks, the way a wave surges back leaving a mist in the air. The light that shines through a hole in the cloud in the distance. Instead of concentrating only on the subject, notice the space between you and it. Notice how distance changes things. Contrast softens. Colours fade. Shapes simplify - either blending, or becoming more defined.

The knots in our minds are often the hardest to unravel, so very true sometimes. Anything come to mind? It takes time and sometimes there seems no route, but there probably is.